Fernando Alonso reckons Alpine are almost fit for a World Championship battle once more, as the team continues to fight their way back to the front as a constructor. Alpine represents the Renault factory entry, with the French marque returning to Formula 1 in 2016 with the aim of rebuilding towards a title challenge. With huge regulation changes incoming for 2022, Alonso believes that the team are now almost on the verge of being ready for their place on the big stage when the time comes. “I think it’s 90 percent ready,” Alonso told Racer.com. “I think there are things you always need to improve. We saw, even in the top teams now like Mercedes or Red Bull, I remember one of the pit stops of Mercedes in Germany was 30 seconds — the famous one — and things like that. “So there are things you need to fail in a way in different things during a weekend or a championship to learn from; those things that happen and then (you) make small changes into that structure and that organisation, and be better next time. “We are not making too many mistakes already, so I think the team is in quite good shape, but there are always things we learn every weekend, and we are making better for the next one. So during the season and the 18 races remaining, I think we will make another 18 smaller steps in that direction.” With Alonso returning to F1 in 2021 after two years away from the sport, the Spaniard himself is using the season to shake off his rustiness with the aim of hitting the ground running with the team for the new regulations. “So, 2021 is a season where we want to achieve big things, but at the same time, we have to prepare the team for the big thing that can happen in the future," he explained. “If we are in a position to fight for the championship, hopefully in 2022, or 2023 or 2024 or whenever, we need to be ready as a team to take that pressure, to take that heat in some of the crucial moments of the race, and have a methodology that is a valid proof in some of the stressful moments. We are trying to do this in parallel to the 2021 campaign.”
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